Who’s makin’ whoopee at work? Study offers some surprises
August 3, 2010 by Tim GouldPosted in: Behavior, Discipline, Employment law, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views, Management
Bet you can’t guess which industry leads the league in workplace dalliances.
It’s manufacturing. That’s right — a recent survey showed that just under one in five factory workers reported they’d gotten frisky on the job.
Quick disclaimer: The survey was conducted in Britain. Results of similar studies in the colonies may differ.
UK HR consultant Reabur asked just under 1,500 workers, “Have you ever had a sexual encounter in the workplace?” Here’s a breakdown of those who answered in the affirmative:
- factory workers — 19%
- office workers — 16%
- bar staff — 15%
- retail assistants (we’re not quite sure what that means — clerks? Stockpeople?) — 13%
- plumbers (really?) — 11%
- teachers — 10%
- chefs — 9%
- postal workers — 9%
- firefighters — 7%, and
- cabin crew (again, uncertain as to who this might cover — airline employees? Cruise ship personnel?) — 6%.
Seem like kind of a dumb subject for an employee survey? Reabur said it conducted the poll for a good reason — there’d been a “notable rise” in calls from client companies to resolve situations in which employees had been “caught in the act.”
Tags: bar staff, chefs, employee surveys, factory workers, firefighters, office workers, plumbers, postal workers, Reabur, teachers, workplace sex
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August 4th, 2010 at 7:16 am
I bet the manufacturing stat is pretty accurate here in the “colonies” as well. I’ve never worked in the industry, but I come from a blue collar family, and I hear plenty of stories…
August 9th, 2010 at 2:03 pm
I worked in manufacturing in the “colonies” for 14 years, and can confirm that there was a lot of this kind of activity – much more that I expected!
August 9th, 2010 at 3:12 pm
I’m going to sleep better at night now, knowing this valuable info.
August 10th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
In my 40 (God! Has it been that long!!??) years in manufacturing, I’ve heard about stuff going on AT work. I’ve heard about more stuff going on outside of work.
August 11th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
I worked in manufacturing for a couple of years and I heard about this happening as well. Here’s what I think the reason is: we were 24/7, and no HR and no senior management worked the third shift (really not even the second). Plenty of time to fool around discretely.
August 12th, 2010 at 11:52 am
plumbers (really?) — 11% – LOL Great article!! Made me laugh. And here I thought “nooners” (or whatever you call it during a different shift) was taken outside the workplace.